Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. Introduction

2. Need for Optical Access

3. How Optical Access Fulfills the Need

4. Technology Workings

5. Access Topologies and Applications

6. Optical Access Benefits

7. Optical Access Summary

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

• very high-data rates over short-to-medium distances (up to several Gigabits per second, including Gigabit Ethernet and fibre channel—up to 35 km in most cases, but up to 70 km under extreme conditions)
• SONET–less connection between enterprise (CPE) and service provider (PoP)
• wrapperless link performance measurement
• physical-layer support for T1 through OC–48
• support for WDM and non–WDM links

Optical access can unblock the access network bottleneck by accomplishing the following:

• managing optical access traffic from end users’ equipment
• handing off traffic on a per-port basis
• delivering traffic to appropriate service clouds